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Judi Dutcher
16th Minnesota State Auditor
In office January, 1995 – January, 2003
Preceded by	Mark Dayton
Succeeded by	Patricia Anderson
Born	November 27, 1962
Political party	Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party
Spouse	Ed Hedblom
Profession	Attorney, Politician, Philanthropist

Judith H. Dutcher is an American politician who served as the Minnesota State Auditor from 1995 – 2003 as both a Republican and Democrat (DFL). She is currently a member of the DFL and ran unsuccessfully for Lt. Governor of Minnesota with DFL endorsed candidate Mike Hatch.

Judi Dutcher was born in Michigan on November 27, 1962. Her father, Jim Dutcher, was the head basketball coach of the University of Minnesota from the mid 1970s to mid 1980s. She received her B.A. from the University of Minnesota in 1984, and her Law Degree from the U of M law school in 1987. She currently lives in Minnetonka, Minnesota, with her husband and two sons.

After practicing as a prosecutor in the Twin Cities for several years, then-Governor Arne Carlson, a friend of her father's, approached her about running for state auditor as a member of the then Independent Republican Party in 1994 (the state Republican party was known as the Independent Republican Party from November 1975 to September 1995). Dutcher had previously not been a member of either party. However, she accepted, and ran in the Arne Carlson mold of a centrist Republican; liberal on social issues, and conservative on fiscal issues. She narrowly won the Republican Party nomination for Auditor, and in November of 1994, became the first pregnant woman ever elected to statewide office in the United States. [1]

Dutcher was reelected in 1998 as a Republican, receiving more votes than any other candidate for constitutional office in Minnesota that year. In January of 2000, she announced that she was switching to the DFL party, saying that she felt uncomfortable as a pro-choice on abortion, pro-gay rights woman in the Republican Party.[2] She was given a speaking slot at the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, and supported Vice President Al Gore and Senator Joe Lieberman.

In 2001, Dutcher announced that she was creating an exploratory committee to run for Governor of Minnesota. She entered the race in early 2002, with State Senator Becky Lourey as her main opponent for the DFL endorsement. State Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe entered the race a few months later, setting up a three-way-fight for the DFL endorsement. At the convention, Lourey dropped out after the second round of balloting and endorsed Dutcher. However, Dutcher did not have the support of 60% of the delegates needed for the endorsement, and Roger Moe had the moment after several more rounds of balloting. Dutcher withdrew her bid for governor, and endorsed Moe. Dutcher decided not to seek reelection to the auditors office, and rejected calls from the Independence Party of Minnesota to run under their banner. Dutcher's term as auditor expired in January of 2003. Roger Moe lost the governor's race to Tim Pawlenty in November, and Republican Patricia Anderson Awada won the State Auditor's office.

Currently, Dutcher is the President of the Minnesota Community Foundation, a philanthropy that benefits public charities, non-profit organizations and civic efforts. Dutcher has kept a low profile since leaving the State Auditor's office.

Dutcher had disclaimed interest in running for office again, but had created speculation that Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch would choose her as his running mate for Lieutenant Governor after she strongly endorsed him and spoke on his behalf at the 2006 DFL state convention. Perhaps not surprisingly, Hatch named her as his running mate on June 25, 2006.

In the final stage of the campaign, Dutcher made headlines for a political gaffe in which she responded to a reporter's question on E85 ethanol by saying "What's E85?" Hatch attributed part of his loss to that remark, noting that he lost heavily in southern Minnesota counties where E85 production facilities are located. [3] However, Hatch later regretted the comment attributing the E85 comment to the loss, and he took responsibility for the loss. [4] The Star Tribune and WCCO TV made separate analyses of the comment, and found that it had little impact on the race. [5]

There has been some talk that Judi Dutcher would be a frontrunner in the race against Norm Coleman, and there has been an outpouring of support for her run.

• 2006 Race for Governor/Lt. Governor - General Election
  • Tim Pawlenty/Carol Molnau (R), 47%
  • Mike Hatch/Judi Dutcher (DFL), 46%
  • Peter Hutchinson/Maureen Reed (I), 6%

• 1998 Race for State Auditor
  • Judi Dutcher, (R), 968,132 votes (49.06%)
  • Nancy A. Larson, (DFL), 812,892 votes (41.20%)
  • Patricia G.V. Becker, (USTP), 116,578 votes (5.91%)
  • Bob Odden, (L), 40,228 votes (2.04%)
  • Joseph G. Peschek, (PM), 33,507 votes, (1.7%)

• 1994 Race for State Auditor
  • Judi Dutcher, (R), 836,626 votes (49.62%)
  • Donald M. Moe, (DFL), 768630 votes (45.59%)
  • Steven Anderson, (GRTS), 80,811 votes (4.79%)

• 1994 Race for State Auditor - Republican Primary
  • Judi Dutcher, 100,908 votes (28.07%)
  • David A. P. Anderson, 77,265 votes (21.49%)
  • Don Koenig, 69,571 votes (19.35%)
  • James J. Wagner, 61,809 votes, (17.19%)
  • Nick Tretinyak, Jr., 25,414 votes, (7.07%)
  • Jual Carlos Carlson, 24,539 votes (6.83%)

• http://www.mncommunityfoundation.org/
• http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/campaign2002/governor/dutcher.shtml
• http://www.osa.state.mn.us/
• http://ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=38590
• http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=126817
• http://www.startribune.com/587/story/784334.html

Preceded by Mark Dayton

State Auditor of Minnesota 1995 – 2003

Succeeded by Patricia Anderson

State Auditors of Minnesota
Dunbar • McIlrath • Whitcomb • Braden • Biermann • Dunn • Iverson • Preus • Chase • King • O'Brien • Hatfield • Mattson • Carlson • Dayton • Dutcher • Anderson • Otto